Nashik district
balls on drusy quartz, Mahodari, Nasik District. These are considered to be the finest red fluorite balls in the world. ]] Nashik district, also known as Nasik district, is a district in Maharashtra, India. The city of Nashik is the administrative headquarters of the district. Geography Nashik district has an area of 15,530 square kilometres. It is bounded by Dhule district to the north, Jalgaon district to the east, Aurangabad district to the southeast, Ahmadnagar district to the south, Thane district to the southwest, Valsad and Navsari districts of Gujarat to the west, and The Dangs district to the northwest. The Western Ghats or Sahyadri range stretches from north to south across the western portion of the district. With the exception of the westernmost few villages, the western portion is hilly, and intersected by ravines, and only the simplest kind of cultivation is possible. The western slope of the Ghats is drained by several rivers, including the Daman Ganga River, which drains westwards to the Arabian Sea. The larger eastern portion of the district, which lies on the Deccan Plateau, is open, fertile, and well cultivated. The Chander Range, which runs east and west, forms the chief divide of the plateau region. The Godavari River originates in the district and drains east towards the Bay of Bengal, and all the streams to the south of the Chander Range, including the Kadwa and Darna, are tributaries of the Godavari. To the north of the Chander Range, the Girna River and its tributary, the Mosam, flow westward through fertile valleys into the Tapti River. Climate Extremes: max 42.4 °C (108.3 °F) on May 12, 1960, at Nasik. The lowest, also at Nasik, was 0.6 °C (33.1 °F) on January 7, 1945.http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/nasik/004%20General/003%20Climate.htm |date=November 2010 }} Demographics According to the 2011 census Nashik district has a population of 6,109,052, roughly equal to the nation of El Salvador or the US state of Missouri. This gives it a ranking of 11th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 22.33 %. Nashik has a sex ratio of 931 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 80.96 %. The district is 75.64% urban as of 2007.http://www.censusindiamaps.net/page/India_WhizMap/IndiaMap.htm Languages Languages spoken include Ahirani, a Kandeshi tongue with approximately 780 000 speakers, similar to Marathi and Bhili. Divisions Administratively, the district is divided into fifteen talukas, which are grouped into four sub-divisions: * Nashik sub-division: Dindori, Igatpuri, Nashik, Nashik Road, Peth, Trimbakeshwar, * Malegaon sub-division: Chandwad, Malegaon, Nandgaon * Niphad sub-division: Niphad, Sinnar, Yeola * Kalwan sub-division, Deola, Kalwan, Baglan (Satana), Surgana * The Nashik district is under proposal to be bifurcated and a separate Malegaon district be carved out of existing Nashik district. History In the 18th century, the present-day Nashik district was part of the Maratha Confederacy, within the territory controlled directly by the Maratha Peshwa. The district contains several old hill forts, the scenes of many engagements during the Anglo-Maratha Wars. The district became British territory in 1818 on the overthrow of the Peshwa. The present-day district was initially divided between Kandesh and Ahmadnagar districts of Bombay Presidency, a province of British India. Nashik district was created in 1869. The population in 1901 was 816,504, showing a decrease of 3% in the decade 1891-1901. The principal crops were millet, wheat, pulse, oil-seeds, cotton and sugar cane. There were also some vineyards, and much garden cultivation. Yeola was an important centre for weaving silk and cotton goods. There were flour-mills at Malegaon, railway workshops at Manmad and Igatpuri, and cantonments at Deolali and Malegaon. At Sharanpur was a Christian village, with an orphanage of the Church Missionary Society, founded in 1854. In 1861 the main northeast line of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway was completed across the district, and in 1878 a chord line was completed between Manmad, on the northeast line in Nashik district, and Daund, on the southeast line in Pune district. From India's independence to 1960, Nashik district was part of Bombay State, which in 1960 split into the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Places of interest The Kumbh mela is held after every twelve years at Nashik. * Trimbakeshwar One of the twelve Jyotirlingas * Vani or SaptaShrungi * Muktidham * Kalaram Temple * Ozar * Kalsubai * Someshwar * Mangi Tungi * Devlali Notes Chandwad References * Hunter, William Wilson, Sir, et al. (1908). Imperial Gazetteer of India, Volume 18, pp 398–409. 1908-1931; Clarendon Press, Oxford. External links *Nashik district, official website *Nashik District Information *Minerals of Mahodari, Nasik District Category:Districts of Maharashtra Category:Nashik district Category:Nashik division